10 Replies

Sharepoint is a complete waste for a small business IMHO. The required skillset to properly manage and maintain Sharepoint is something that small businesses will not have a sufficient need to spend for the person. As far as collaboration, in a small business, it's just not that hard to collaborate easily.

For Exchange 2010, again, for small businesses, the overhead is a bit daunting. Between the server and disk space, the spam appliance, the backup retention plus additional bandwidth that is probably needed to host Exchange inhouse for a small business is a bit cost prohibitive when there are so many hosting options available at very reasonable prices.

For Windows 7, the small business (assuming it has been around a while) is often using older software that is likely not compatible and they do not have the inhouse expertise necessary to "shim" it into a workable solution.

for larger small businesses, say the 100 mark, it depends entirely on the type of business and its market niche as to what technologies might be needed to support the business properly. I don't think I could properly formulate a generic response to the questions posed for a non-specific business that size.

i still consider 100 employees an SMB;
as far as windows 7, i can't see why anyone wouldn't be able to lob the XP is over a decade old grenade to overcome any objections to upgrade.
as far as Exchange, i'm sure licensing cost or hosting cost would be the primary objection.
Sharepoint, i think that the smaller the business, the less an understanding of what it is fully capable, i'm still trying to grasp it over web resources that are available.

In this economy, keep in mind that businesses are controlling costs at well... all costs. "Recovery" is still a pipe dream for businesses in many industries, so without specifically referring to costs for each product you mention:

For Sharepoint - Not fully understanding what it is and having good informational examples of what it can do for a company, especially from a cost vs. value standpoint.

Exchange 2010 - Current use of an older version of Exchange that is working just fine. No real need for it (I still use hosted POP as I see no value in Exchange for us). Bandwidth constraints (a huge obstacle with "cloud" adoption. I think Microsoft and other vendors forget that most businesses don't have dedicated fiber run to their location. Many of us are stuck with slow DSL or T1). Licensing issues.

Windows 7 - Legacy software (especially 32 bit) or ancillary hardware with no W7 or W7 64 bit support. XP works fine for them and they don't want to spend the bucks until MS stops supporting it.

Aside from Budget constraints.. hmm ok, and remember this is from a small business point of view:

Sharepoint 2010:
We currently Us WSS 3.0. I have not messed with Foundation Serveras we have not upgraded our infrastructure to support it yet. Full Blown Sharepoint? there are a lot of advantages, but none that would affect us directly enough to invest in the time and (I know) Money to invest in it. Some of the features would be nice as I have designed a somewhat crude project management site out of WSS and would like to have some of the basic features, such as excel and access services.

Exchange 2010:
We have looked into this a lot. We have now decided that if we do go that route it will likely be a hosted environment such as office 365, as that would lower the problem of keeping equipment and liscensing up to date, and management would not be so heavy on our end.

Windows 7:
Other than Budget, there are only a couple things holding us back from Windows 7. Most of that is having to replace Older equipment such as plotters and printers that will not work with 64 bit (as there is no point otherwise not using 64 bit). I have tried the HP 64 bit universal drivers, and they are basically junk. Other than that most apps and other things we use seem to be compatible with Windows 7.

Unfortunately in this economy, the major reason is the budget. There is no point in moving to something that costs a lot if what you are using is working just fine for the time being.